Category: buddhism

The Good News

Come Christian, Buddhist, and Muslim

Come atheist and agnostic

Come here

Look within yourself first

There is a jewel within you

A Kingdom of unconditional love

A sanctuary within your own heart

Come dive into the depths of it’s healing water

Bask in it’s unconditional love that transforms us to our core

Abandon everything to this

Abandon all selfishness, hatred, greed and fear

Abandon all your attachments

Letting go can be painful but once we have the courage to abandon ourselves, the light of love brings us everlasting joy

With love,

Johnny

Nourishing the Seeds of Love

Today I will abandon all self centered ideas

I will abandon all greed, hatred, and fear within my heart

Empty my mind of selfishness

Instead I will only water the seeds of unconditional love, forgiveness, compassion and grace

I will water these seeds within me, other beings and the universe

Bringing transformation and joy to myself and to all living beings

Nourishing the planet with love with each step

In the Eyes of Our Enemy

May we have the courage to sit down with our enemies

Look into their eyes

Seek to understand why they harm us

To truly love someone we must first have the courage to understand them

Keep asking questions and seek to understand with curiosity

Soon you will see the suffering in their heart and mind

They were born into the suffering of war, violence, and greed

Taught wrong perceptions by their ancestors and society

If you look deeper we can see that our enemies were once innocent smiling babies

They were not born with hatred and fear in their hearts

With this deep insight, compassion and understanding will be born

This deep love will be liberate us from hatred and violence

And a river a joy will rush through us

This is the way of the peaceful warrior

To love our enemies and pray for those who spite us

With love,

Johnny

Many Streams, One Ocean

Many streams go to one ocean

Many paths to the mountain top

May we be liberated from religious dogma

May we be free to see the truth within all spiritual traditions

May we be curious and open minded

Like a child with a beginners mind

All we know is that we know nothing for certain

Pride, arrogance and closed mindedness keep us from seeing this beautiful truth

We don’t truly know what will happen to us when we die

We will never know what God truly is in this life time

All war and violence stems from believing we have the truth or that we are the chosen people

When discrimination and hatred enter the human heart, suffering and war are inevitable

May we stay humble and full of grace

Your brother,

Johnny

Radical Acceptance

The paradox of behavior change is that once we radically accept ourselves as we are today, then we can change. Ignorance and pride are two main obstacles on this journey of radical acceptance and rebirth. Each day, each moment can be a time for rebirth and resurrection if we are dedicated to the path of transparency and love.

The Buddha said the root of all suffering is attachment. Attachment to wealth, status, pleasure but also attachment to ideas of ourselves as a separate individual self. We must wake up as a species to the ultimate reality of things. The truth of interbeing, that everyone and everything is connected deeply. The illusion of a separate self is a persistent one that must be dissolved for humanity to have true peace, liberation and joy. We are all brothers and sisters. If I harm you, I harm myself. Technology or willpower will not save us from self destruction, only true unconditional love can.

Ignorance is also a main obstacle towards liberation because we keep harming ourselves without truly understanding why. We must have the courage to look within ourselves for our ignorance to dissolve. Look deep within yourself and the cause of your suffering will come clear.

Positive reinforcement is key to behavioral change. We must not be harsh to ourselves but also not let ourselves off the hook. Radical acceptance is about deep love for ourselves, even the parts of us that feel like they are not worthy of love. Do not beat yourself up. Forgiveness is the way to true liberation and joy. Inner peace will not be created through violence and harshness but through radical acceptance and non violence.

With love,

Johnny

A Zen Buddhist Taoist Christian

Some say I’m a Buddhist

Some say I’m a Christian

Some say I’m a Taoist

Some say I’m a Sufi 

You can label me all of these or none

No one religion or philosophy has a monopoly on the truth

Many streams lead to the ocean

Many paths lead up to the mountain top

All spirituality has a common ancestor

Unconditional love unites and purifies all religious teachings

Some teachings call it God, the divine, Dao, Buddha nature etc

We must not get attached to believing that our tradition has the ultimate truth while diminishing other spiritual paths

I plan to never get attached to one philosophy, religion or teacher

I only seek the ocean of unconditional love within my own soul

With aloha,

Johnny

The Awaken One Within

Beneath the hatred

Beneath the doubt

Beneath the fear

Beneath the greed

Beneath the addictions

Beneath the suffering

There is a gem

More precious than diamonds

Beneath the chaos is a deep source of unconditional love

A love so deep and healing

A love that can liberate us from fear

This is the mission of my life

To dive deeper into this source of unconditional love and let it transform me

We are all born with the capacity to awaken and become enlightened

With this source of love we can help the world heal from hatred, fear and violence

We can walk more and more like Jesus did on this earth

We are all Buddhas(awaken one) to be

Don’t doubt or limit yourself

With love,

Johnny

The Power of Gratitude

Gratitude is the antidote for all bitterness, resentment and hatred.

Next time you feel deep resentments towards a friend, family member or boss try to remember how grateful you are for them. Write it down and meditate on gratitude.

Liberation from all resentments is a joyful experience. When we hold onto resentment, bitterness and hatred we become ill. The only way to feel healthy again is to forgive others and express gratitude.

If someone is truly toxic to us we can still bow out and thank them for teaching us a lesson of what not to do. Gratitude does not mean excepting harmful behavior from others. We can walk away with gratitude and love for them.

Gratitude is a beautiful practice plus it’s free and available at any moment.

Your brother,

Johnny

The Revolutionary Message of Jesus

Jesus was a revolutionary
A revolutionary of unconditional love
Of radical peace
Anyone who speaks his name through the lens of fear, hatred or greed does not know his way

Jesus’s way is of the peaceful warrior
He knew that only unconditional love can bring peace to the world

Fear and violence will only continue our own suffering
Only unconditional love can save us
It can liberate us from all self-centeredness
His way can free us from the shackles of greed, hatred and fear
Resurrection is possible if we surrender as he did on the cross

We can be reborn each moment if we follow his way

We don’t need to be a Christian to follow Jesus’s message of unconditional love for all living beings

We only need to have an open mind and a compassionate heart

With love,

Johnny Hoffman

Question Everything

Question this blog post, leaders, religion, philosophy etc

Question everything and everyone

Question not with hatred

Question not to prove others wrong or you right

Question everything with a childlike curiosity

Is this true to you in our daily life?

Is it practical or possible?

Will this bring peace and love to ourselves and all living beings?

Let go of all bias and dogmas

Question everything with curiosity to find out the truth for yourself in your day to day lives

Most importantly, question yourself

Question your own beliefs and behaviors in the world and where they stem from

Are they serving you and others around you?

You might find out that most of your beliefs and opinions are from your parents, culture or government

They might be outdated or not helpful to you anymore

With love,

Johnny